Supporting means for submarine mines.



D. SCHANE.

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR SUBMARINE MINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19, 1915.

Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

INVENTOR.

v WITNESSES: I

arena 1 E COW D PATENT G DAVID SCHANE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR SUBMARINE MINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

Application filed March 19, 1915. Serial No. 15,483.

, useful Improvements in Supporting Means for Submarine Mines, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in supporting means for submarinemines commonly used for protection of coast defenses, or for blockadingcertain waterways, and it' is the particular object of the invention tomake such mines or other explosive carrying containers effective for avery great area whereby the eiflciency of these weapons is considerablyincreased and the number of them correspondingly decreased.

Various other objects will appear in the following specification inwhich a preferred construction of the mine and its moorings is disclosedand in which- Figure I shows a cross section through a body of water,the mine and supporting .means for the same being shown in elevation;Fig. II illustrates a plan view of the arrangement shown in Fig. I; Fig.III shows a plan view of the mine in a position about to contact with amoving vessel; and Fig. IV shows a view similar to Fig. I illustrating amodified construction of the mine supporting means.

All of the above views are shown in diagrammatic form suiiicientlyillustrative, however,of the principle of my invention.

Like characters of reference 'denote similar parts throughout theseveral views and the following specification.

1 is a mine of the type which contains a high explosive, subject toviolent discharge when brought in contact with a moving object withsuiflcient force.

2 is a cable of steel or other suitable material extending upwa rdly toa float 3. lVhere fastened to'float 3, cable 2 is run in a horizontaldirection'to connect with float 4 from which cable 2 is suspendeddownwardly and firmly held in a stationary position by a suitable anchor5.

6, 7 and 8 are intermediate floats adapted to support the cable 2.

Floats 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 are preferably of such proportion and buoyancyas to support the cable and the mine a distance sufiiciently below thesurface of the water so as to render' them invisible. This, however, isnot absolutely necessary and may be varied from by adapting float 4 orany other floats, or, if desired, all of them, to be on the level of thewater, indicative of the approximate position of the mine. It is alsoobvious that the use of intermediate floats 6, 7, and 8 may be dispensedwith or increased in accordance with the weight of the mine and thelength of the cable supporting the same. The construction may furtherbemodified by attaching the mine directly to float 3, if desired. Mine 1is also held stationary by a suitable anchor 9; this anchor however mustbe of much lighter weight than anchor 5 and just heavy enough towithstand any current in the water, and may be entirely omitted in stillwater.

A modification of the mine supporting means is shown in Fig. IV. In thisfigure mines 1 and 1 are supported by cable 2 and floats 3 and 3 andheld stationary in the center by anchor 5 suspended from float 4,intermediate floats 6, 7, S, and 6, 7, 8 supporting the weight of thecable 2 and the mines l and 1, as explained above with reference to Fig.I. In this manner also a series of mines may be radially or otherwiseconnected to float 4:, insuring obviously a still greater radius ofaction. Anchors 9 and 9 may further be attached to mines 1 and 1respectively, to prevent the shifting of the mines due to currents inthe water.

The operation of my mine supporting means and its advantages are asfollows: Cable 2 is placed across the passage which it is desired toblockade, firmly anchored at one end and supporting mine 1 at the other.Should a vessel 10 strike cable 2, it would gradually deflect the cable,thereby drawing the mine 1 closer to itself, as shown in Fig. III, untilfinally mine 1 will contact with the sides of the vessel 10 when theexplosion will occur.

Heretofore, mines were generally placed in the water, anchored at from100 to 500 feet apart, to prevent the explosion of one damaging theother. They were usually arranged in two or more lines, the mines of oneline covering the spaces left between the mines of the next. There wastherefore always the possibility of a ship passing through a line ofmines without coming within the destructive area of any. It is obviousthat, with my improved arrangement of supporting and anchoring the mine,the usefulness of the same and its effective range is greatly siderablyless weight than the said increased, while a considerable smallerquantity of mines can be em loyed to maintain a 7 complete blockade,making it absolutely impossible for any vessel to :pass through a straitso protected, without striking a cable and subsequently exploding theattached mine.

While I have shown for purposes of illustrating and have described onlya few embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that the sameis susceptible of various other modifications from details herein shownand described without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim as new is:

1. A floating cable, an anchor suspended from one end of the said cable,a submarine mine suspended from the other end of said cable, and currentresisting means, of less resistance than the said anchor, fastened tothe said mine.

2. A submerged cable supported by suitable floats positioned below thesurface of the water, an anchor suspended from one end of the saidcable, and a submarine mine suspended from the other end of the saidcable, a second anchor fastened to the said mine, the said second anchorbein of const men- 0 tioned anchor.

3. A cable supported by suitable floats below the surface of the water,an anchor suspended from one end of the saidcable, and

a submarine mine suspended from th8 0tlIeIl 4. The combination of asubmarine mine,

a submerged floating cable extending in a lateral direction connected'tothe said mine,

' means holding one end of the said cable'in a stationary position, andcurrentres'isting means, of less resistance than-thesald cable 1 holdingmeans, connected to the:' said mine.-

5. The combination of a float, an anchor suspended from the said float,a series of cables extending radially-away from the said float, otherfloats supportin the said cables in the water, mines of th scribedsuspended from the outer ends of the said cables and current reslstlngmeans, of

character deless resistance than the said anchor, fastened to the saidmines. v

'6. A cable supported by a series of floats, an anchor suspended from va point intermediate the ends of the said cable, mines of the characterdescribed suspended from bothv ends of the said cable, and otheranchorsof considerably less weight than the said iirst mentioned anchor,fastened to the said mines.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

DAVID SCHANE.

Witnesses: 1

SAMUEL S. FRANKENSTYNE, LESTER M. HYMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, addressingthe Commissioner of Patents;

Washington, n. e."

